Knight to Queen
by CushionySiren3
Summary: Spring has come to Beacon Academy and a romance has started to grow between Jaune and Nora. Please, follow along as they take their time becoming a couple.
1. The Question

Winter had just curtailed off, it hadn't been especially cold this year so the transition to spring was easy. Day by day the light coats of frost lingering around the campus melted away into the soil. Lush shades of green returned to the gardens and the muddy clouds dissipated. The air was rich with the smell of blossoming flowers. The students of Beacon Academy rejoiced.

As light as the cold months were, the winter blues had still taken hold of some. Now, two weeks in, the doldrums were starting to feel like distant memories. With moods and the temperature rising the unbridled energy of youth surged back through the student body. Nowhere was that more evident than the grand dining hall. Chatter, laughter, and the occasional shout echoed through the massive three story hall. Light rained in through the giant arched windows, filling the interior with natural warmth. In the midst of the merry-making there was one person who was sticking out like a sore thumb.

That would be Jaune Arc.

Sitting with his team and their close friends from RWBY, the blonde boy glanced about nervously. His blue eyes shifted around in a frazzle and sweat sprayed from his head like he were a sprinkler. Lucky for him the group was too wrapped up in Yang's last joke to notice. And right now Yang's terrible jokes were a gift straight from the Dust quarries because sweaty and anxious wasn't a good look for him.

"Need this?" Ren asked, pulling Jaune back down to Remnant.

"Heh, wha?" The blonde ran his eyes up and down Ren. His panic quickly subsided when he set his eyes on the napkin he was offering. Jaune managed a half-smile. "Thanks Ren. I'm uh, kinda hot today." He muttered.

Ren passed on the paper with a smile. "Is that why you're not eating?"

Jaune looked down at his lunch tray. Not a single morsel had budged since he set it down. "... Yeah, the-the heat's kind of knocking out my hunger."

"Jaune," The slight tinge of happiness in Ren's cool voice pulled Jaune's attention back. His dark haired friend was still wearing that same smile. Ren then patted him on the back, his light touch flash-freezing Jaune's anxiety. "You owe it to yourself."

Jaune's stomach fluttered as he glimpsed Nora wolfing down her pulled pork and potato slice sandwich. Dabbing off the sweat from his face he looked back to Ren and held forth the customary fist of friendship. In proper fashion Ren completed the brotherly gesture by bumping his fist with Jaune's. Brotherhood affirmed, Jaune took a few deep breaths.

Working up a smile he straightened up and looked around Ren and past Pyrrha. "Hey, uh, Nora?"

"Hmm?" Pork pinched between Nora's lips as she leaned forward, her messy orange hair leaning in with her.

"Can I, uhm, can we go talk outside? I wanted to ask you something in private?" Jaune taking extra effort to check his breathing so he wouldn't fumble over words.

Her response wasn't nearly as coherent. "Ih uh shukeh," A loud slurp followed as she sucked back the strings of meat between her pink lips.

"Nora don't talk with your mouth full." Weiss chided from across the table.

"You're one to talk." Yang snickered. "You're the one always drooling when Ruby stuffs her cheeks. You tryna fatten her up or are you just weird?" Prodding Weiss with an elbow she managed to draw a couple chuckles. Before their fracus could truly devolve Nora gulped down her mouthful and leaned back.

Sticking back out into the aisle, her chair wobbling on its back legs, Nora wiped the last of the food from her lips. "What's up?" She said cheerfully, electric blue eyes sparkling.

"Uhm," Jaune gave an involuntary shudder. "I was actually hoping we could go outside."

"Ooo keeping secrets?" The boisterous Yang cutting in again, her hand holding Weiss' mouth shut.

"No need to be nosey." Ren said, holding back a soft chuckle. "They're probably making plans for my birthday. Go on, I don't want to spoil your surprise. We'll still be here when you get back."

With a giggle Nora's chair screeched back across the stone. Shooting up she pushed her chair back under. "Alright, just don't touch my chili! I'll know if you took some."

Pyrrha gave a small laugh, waving her on. "I'll guard your food, don't worry."

"Thanks Pyrrha,"Nora chimes, walking over to Jaune.

Swallowing whatever doubts he still had left Jaune got up. With a couple calm moves the two were off. Step after step he started making his way towards the exit. Nora a step behind him.

"So where are we going?"

"Nowhere specific." Jaune said. "Just outside under some shade… So uh, how're-"

"Eww, you're all wet?" Nora said, skipping alongside him with an amused smile.

"Oh, uh, I-I spilled some water." The section of Jaune's brain that processes panic had just went into overdrive.

Nora gave a short chortle. "On top of your head?"Jaune could only manage a small chuckle, egging Nora on. "Were you trying to give yourself a shower? You always have to look good for your fan club."

The blush building in Jaune's cheeks was finally turning a warm red. "Heh-yeah, I'm not so sure I have that many fans."

"Oh peshaaa, you've got plenty. You were born for the limelight. And if you keep yourself spritzed up like one of those anime hunks from the swim team show, you'll keep pulling em in."

Jaune gave a short snicker. "You've been watching that show?" Nora let out a cheery hum as Jaune held open the door. Skipping on through into the hot Spring sun, the light humidity engulfing them, the bright eyed ginger girl swung back to follow Jaune's lead.

"I watch with Pyrrha sometimes. Juicy boy on boy drama is all the rage." Her broad grin plus some pizzazz only drawing more chuckles from Jaune. "Are you getting ready for some poolside antics? I'm sure Ren can oil you up."

"No pool hunks for me sadly." Jaune chuckled. Just as he said he eased them both to a stop in the shadow of the building. Standing beside one of the thick buttresses Jaune brushed at his hair and nudged himself back on track. "It is pool weather though. It's been nice out lately."

"Uhhh!" Nora grunted her body trembling with raw passion. Throwing herself into a pirouette she gently crashed back against one of the stone beams. "I love the weather right now! We need to go do something soon. We should go down to Frigley Park, the one near the bowling alley, and play some softball with everyone. We can make a whole day out of it."

"A-actually I was thinking something like that. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out this weekend." His voice crackled at parts, but it came out as upbeat as everything else.

Nora didn't pause for a second; same smile, same cheer. "Sure, you need help picking out Ren's gift don't you?" Nora gave a quick snicker and a wave of the wrist. "He can be a pain to shop for, but I know just what he likes. If you want a few tips I'll give you everything you need to know, if you can make it worth my while."

Jaune's throat shrank up. His breath turned to dirt in his throat. With a small cough he sputtered up a nervous laugh. "E-uh-Actually I was thinking more like a date."

Nora gave a small snort and raised an eyebrow. "What, do you mean like a date-date?"

Jaune's lips quivered. His heart nearly stopped when he heard her snort. This time he couldn't think of a reply. When a few seconds went by, Nora watched, growing towards confusion until things clicked.

Nora's brain took a second to process. She didn't seem like she was panicking, heck she was as cheery as before. He figured it was a fair, yet aside from the silence she gave off no real indication what she was thinking.

But then she talked!

"I-if you're thinking about dates I know a great supermarket that always produces some top produce." Nora falling into a bumble half-way through. With a mild twitch she shyly tugged at a fold in her skirt. Her next laughs came out in a couple rough bursts. "I… I got that one from Yang."

"Hehe, yeah, Yang likes her puns."Jaune could feel wind seeping from his chest. "Uhm…"

"Like, it wasn't that funny. I just thought it was kinda funny because of, ya know going out on a date to get some dates. Like a date for dates. Like we don't have to go for dates. Dates are good, but we don't have to go for dates on our date."

A glimmer of hope filled Jaune's eyes. His heart pumped hard. "... Wait,"

"What?"

"So is that a yes?"

"Pfft a yes to what?" Nora's eyes fluttering around.

"Do you want to go on a date, Saturday?" His smile was rebuilding itself.

"Oh," She rocks on her feet, her pink lips twisting. "Mhmm"

Jaune's heart was beginning to pound. "Yeah?"

"Yeah what?"

"Yeah to the date?"

"Oh the date…" Nora's smile perfectly centered between two pink cheeks. "Well… yeah-yeah."

"Yeah?!"

"Yeah!" Nora's reply muffled in her giggle, Jaune's energy was spreading directly into her veins.

"Eh-uh-ah-uhm we... uh, we don't have to make a big deal about this to everyone." Jaune's sensible comment drown out beneath his giddiness. "Like, it's just a date."

"Yeah," Nora giggling along as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Yang and Weiss make a big deal out of everything! It's just a date! We don't need to think about them!"

"Yeah, it's our date!" Jaune chuckling, his brain and his lungs struggling to bring him back down to normality. "Yeah... hehehe… so, uh, do you wanna, ya know, go back in?"

Nora took a second to let her giggling trail off. "Yeah, they're probably getting curious. And my chili is probably getting chilly." Jaune's cheeks gave a twinge of pain as Nora pulled another snicker from him. "Don't shame me, but that one's mine, not Yang's"

"It wasn't that bad, your timing's better than hers." Jaune pulling another small laugh from Nora.

Snickering between themselves the two walk back towards the dining hall. The hordes of butterflies dancing wildly in their tummies.

* * *

 **Hey everyone this may seem like an odd ship for me, but this is actually a personal favorite. Please don't worry about Ren, there ain't gonna be no broken hearts here. I hope you continue reading, and please be fair with your reviews.**

 **I've been posting a bit more frequently on Archive of Our Own lately. If you want to keep up with all my stuff follow me over there as well.**

 **-CS**


	2. Nerves

To describe Nora's stare as vacant would be entirely accurate. Her blue eyes stood fixed to the far side of the gym while she trundled along on the treadmill. It was a typical Friday aside from Nora's mood, students were coming through for their regular workouts and the speakers in the ceiling churned out the usual pop hits. From the weights to cardio machines to gymnastic equipment the academy had whatever a Huntsman or Huntress in training would need.

"Hey Nora, you okay? You look really out of it." Yang said, eyes sharp as ever. As good as her intentions may have been Yang not only roused Nora from thought, she full on startled her.

Nora's sneakers made a shrill squeak against the treadmill as she tripped against nothing. She lurched forward and caught herself against the railing before smacking her face into the treadmill's waist high console. Nora slapped the stop button on her machine with a groan and seized a moment to recover her breath.

"Oh shoot, are you okay?" Yang, who had been pacing on the treadmill alongside Nora's, stopped her machine. Her eyebrows dipped at the outer ends as she looked over the ginger girl.

"Yeah, yeah, I just tripped." She took a quick breath. It was another minute before she was even able to give the blonde a nervous grin. "Sorry, I'm just distracted. I was uh... I was just thinking about that Oobleck assignment we got due on Wednesday. I mean, all of his assignments are a drag."

Yang took a few seconds before she let out a snicker. "History isn't your strong suit?"

Nora let out a guilty chuckle as she restarted her treadmill. "It's not completely my fault. It's impossible to tell what he's saying half the time. "

"Yeah, it's like he eats Dust raw." Yang turned back to her own console but paused at the controls. "Actually, I think Weiss may have finished that paper; if you need help we can grab it from her. And don't worry, she won't mind. Right Weiss, you love to share!" Yang boomed, garnering quite a few stares as she tried to catch Weiss' attention.

She succeeded of course.

It was impossible for Weiss to miss the tall, brawler shouting like the two of them were smack-dab in the middle of a rock concert. Weiss was only a good twenty feet away after all. The only conceivable distraction would've been that she was holding Ruby's feet down as she did crunches, and that wasn't very engrossing. So, again, Weiss heard her. "Yang, stop shouting! We're in public!"

"Weiss, please, I wanna stop!" Ruby said, sweat dripping onto her red and white jersey.

"You wanted me to help you with your core strength. We're not stopping here: sixteen more!"

Yang gave a small snort at Ruby's pitiful groan. "Ruby put on a few pounds."

Nora gave her a grin. She wasn't the least bit surprised, Ruby had decided to ring in the winter season with sweets galore. And of course the time came for her to sweat the weight away. As desperate as Ruby looked Nora couldn't help but giggle. "It beats a diet at least."

"I think Rubes, would give up air before cookies."

Yang's quick chuckle gave Nora the perfect chance.

"Oh hey Yang, kinda off topic - I mean, we weren't really talking about cookies or anything, but you know when you kinda like gotta turn a phrase around- but you know what I mean. So I was wondering about something and do you know what first dates are like?"

"First dates?"

"Yyyyyeaaaah, I'm just asking for Pyrrha. I think she likes someone and she didn't wanna tell me who, but she wanted to know about dates. I don't know anything about dates and she's too nervous to ask you so I decided to ask. So what do you know, like as a tip for first dates." Nora managing what she thought was a fairly convincing fib through her nerve-wracked grin.

She immediately came to regret this as soon as Yang hit her with the smirk. Everyone knew her smirk. Everyone needed to know her smirk for their own safety. And right now that smirk, was leveled squarely at Miss Nora Valkyrie.

"Hmm, someone got love on the mind?" The rise of her eyebrow shocking Nora's spirit straight from her body

"Wh-whaaat? No, I don't think she's in love. I mean Pyrrha is that kind of lovey dovey kind of girl, but I don't think it's love. Love seems like too much, she's just curious. I don't know, maybe someone asked her out and she isn't really sure what to expect! I didn't wanna pry, I think she just wants to know about first dates…"

Yang just smiled at Nora.

Nora stared back with the biggest smile she could manage.

"First," Yang started, a layer of joy spread through her voice. "You need to work on your lying. Second, relax, there are just a few simple rules…"

* * *

"Be myself?" Jaune grumbled, slumped back into a red leather backed seat. Ren, nowhere near Jaune's level of exasperated, sat across from him in their favorite booth. Classical rock tunes cranked out from the jukebox on the other side of the diner, and the light chatterings of patrons mixed with the smell of the food.

"She said yes." Ren said, voice flat as ever. Raising his double bacon cheeseburger he gave Jaune a wry smile, "She's interested, just be natural."

Jaune leaned forward over his plate. "She looked nervous. What if she just said yes because she didn't want to say no? She might not want to go at all."

"Jaune," A mouth of beef, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and cheese muffling his words. "Breathe; you're overthinking. Also, eat your burger."

"Ren I'm serious." Jaune dragged a fry through a puddle of ketchup. With a quick move he tossed it into his yapper and moaned on. "We haven't even talked much since I asked her. What if she's thinking about cancelling? I don't want to pressure her."

The black haired boy stared at Jaune. He really took his time to let the stare sink in. He even got Jaune to squirm a bit under his glare.

"Eh… Ren? … Ren?"

And then Ren leaned over the white table and smacked him on the side of the head.

"Ahck! Hey!" Jaune's whimper somewhere between confused and hurt.

"Stop overthinking this. Whatever happens happens; she's probably nervous too and you know it. Being a paranoid isn't going to make anything easier, just go out and try and have some fun. You already have things planned for what you're going to do, yes?"

"Well, yeah but-" Ren cut him off with a hand. Fortunately he didn't smack him with this one.

"Stop with the questions." Ren snapped.

The two took a moment to let the air settle. The diner around them kept at its own pace while Jaune leaned back to think. The light clatter of dishes and the sound of the grill filled the spacious room. The noise settled in Jaune's ears and the scent of apple pie carried his spirit a bit higher.

' _... She did smile….'_

Jaune took a breath. And sat on the thought a second longer. "... Thanks, Ren." his tone warm, a smile working its way back to his face.

Ren waited to swallow his mouthful of classic styled burger before he replied with a simple. "Don't thank me yet."

"Can I thank you for lunch at least?"

Ren cocked an eyebrow. "... You're paying for your food."

Jaune blinked a couple times before letting out a heavy sigh. He swung his head back down and stared his burger in the sesame seeds. He could still smell the sweet aroma of grease and fat on it. And he would have relished it a second longer if he hadn't caught Ren's snickering.

Looking up he was met with a small smile from his raven haired friend. "I'm kidding. I'm paying today."

Jaune snickered. He wasn't sure if he'd ever crack Ren's poker face.

* * *

Panting, Ruby looks up at Weiss from the leg press. "Do you think we should rescue Nora? I think I just heard Yang say something about breaking bones."

Weiss takes a moment to lock the weights. With a small shrug she looks down to the sweat soaked girl with a smile. "We'll save her once you finish this set. Nora can hold her off for another few minutes. Now, give me another fifteen."

"Weiiiiiiiiss! Let me stop! Pleeeeease!" Ruby whines as she flops back against the cushioned seat.

Weiss gives the young leader a large, malicious smirk. "You're the one who put on fifteen pound in three weeks, dolt. Now come on! Another set of twenty or I'll use some of Yang's advice on you!"

Ruby let out a miserable groan.

* * *

 **A big thank you to my friend and fellow writer Winter1112 for helping proofread! She even conceived the White Rose bit at the end! Thank you for reading and I hop y'all stay tuned for what's to come!**

 **-CS**


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